General fiat 500 1.2 lounge engine not running correctly

[p leddy]

hi my fiat 500 is 15 months old but the engine seems to be missing a beat will this be covered by the warranty or will i have to pay for service .ps love the car

 

[ahmett]

hi my fiat 500 is 15 months old but the engine seems to be missing a beat will this be covered by the warranty or will i have to pay for service .ps love the car

What does missing a beat mean? Any signs on the dash?

 

[p leddy]

just seems to shudder a bit on starting and not running as smooth as it used to only done 8000 miles thanks

 

[ahmett]

just seems to shudder a bit on starting and not running as smooth as it used to only done 8000 miles thanks

If it really bothers you you can take it to a dealer and ask about it.
Or any indie/decent mechanic should figure out if you have a problem .

 

[jrkitching]

just seems to shudder a bit on starting and not running as smooth as it used to only done 8000 miles thanks

Just change the spark plugs.

Not covered by warranty but you can buy an OEM set cheaply from here and any indie could fit 'em if you don't fancy doing it yourself. FIAT need never know & this will leave your warranty intact; there are other (IMO better) options but they will void your warranty. Full thread (warning: technical) here.

 

[loveshandbags]

just seems to shudder a bit on starting and not running as smooth as it used to only done 8000 miles thanks

Since you've done 8K miles in 15 months does that mean that at the 12 months 'stage' you would have exceeded 6K miles ?

On low mileage cars i.e. less than 6K miles p.a. or where they are used for a lot of 'stop start' driving service schedule is different.

 

[Mal126]

May be plugs, but unusual, could be coil, sensor etc, need to be diagnosed, at 15mths old should be covered by warranty.
Guessing costs money. !!

 

[ahmett]

Take it to a dealer for a test drive.

 

[jrkitching]

May be plugs, but unusual, could be coil, sensor etc, need to be diagnosed, at 15mths old should be covered by warranty.
Guessing costs money. !!

It's a lot more than just a guess - if you look other recent threads on the subject, and with due credit to loveshandbags for his research, you'll see my comment is backed up with a fair bit of homework, hard experience & real-world testing. The standard OEM plugs are 'old technology' & with the amount of ethanol present in today's petrol, will be past their best by 8000 miles.

Anyone who's handy with a spanner could swap the plugs for less than many here would pay in fuel just to take it to the dealership & back, to say nothing of the bother & inconvenience - and I'll bet they'll say something along the lines of "can't see anything wrong with that" or "they all do that sir".